Self preservation
by Shnook19
Summary: Set in season 2 episode 1. Tom is reunited with the Second Mass, but how does Pope feel about it?
1. Chapter 1

**So I've recently started watching Falling Skies and I'm hooked! I can't believe there hasn't been a Tope yet. Please review :)**

"We should have put a damn bullet in his head"

I didn't want to say that and when I made a move to go into the med bus and do it myself I was secretly glad that I had been stopped. It wasn't what I really wanted; I didn't want to see Tom Mason dead. I knew Tom had thought of it though to protect Second Mass and to protect his boys, but that was why he wouldn't do it; for his boys. To see them after three months only to blow his brains out would be too cruel.

I wandered off to check with the scouts as Weaver ordered. I had briefly glimpsed Tom; self preservation had warred with…lust or affection, the man had escaped from an alien ship and his only serious wound had been inflicted by his son. Self preservation had won out but I didn't know for how much longer. Tom hadn't seen me when he had been shaking people's hands and kissing babies like he was goddamned running for mayor and that was probably for the best.

Who was I kidding? It was best for me that he hadn't looked at me because I don't know what I would have done, maybe I would have turned and walked off or maybe I'd have kissed him, in front of all those people, in front of his boys.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey we need to talk"

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep" I squinted my eyes up at the person who had just disturbed a really good dream about blowing up cooties while eating peanut butter. I didn't know about the peanut butter part I didn't even like the stuff.

"Hey Pope"

"Hey Tom"

I sat up on my cot and looked around; it was dark outside my tent flap that Mason had rudely left wide open. Outside the tent was a bustle of activity, we were waiting for Mason's kid to get back from the other side of the river.

"Did you live in a barn, shut the door"

He looked at me sheepishly and zipped the tent up.

"Your eye looks nasty, so are you a sleeper agent now?"

He shook his head, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about-"

"If you're here to ask me to shoot you if you try something then the answer is yes"

He smiled and sat on the cot next to me, "Thank you, I already asked Hal but I don't know…"

I pushed my covers off me suddenly feeling hot in my enclosed tent, "You asked your kid to shoot you that's rough"

His eyes burned as he looked at me, "He's not a kid anymore!"

I held my hands out in a placating gesture, not even five minutes in my company and he's already shouting at me, I thought amused. "I know he's not, you did the right thing"

He rested his hand on my bare thigh and I wished I hadn't pulled the covers off of me, I had a feeling my interest was going to become apparent, if you know what I mean, and I was only wearing boxers.

"Thank you" he whispered again. He looked over at me and I tensed but he didn't do anything.

"Stop it" I growled

"What?" he whispered still staring at me slightly smiling.

"You know what, it's that look you gave me when I told Matt that he should listen to you when you said not be near me, and it's the look you gave me when I helped Anthony"

I didn't say anything, I was pissed. I was pissed he had left though I knew he had good reasons to, I'd spent three months watching those three reasons become stronger without their father. I was pissed because he hadn't said goodbye and I was pissed because I was torn between putting a bullet in him to save myself and loving him even if it was a bad idea.

"You need to stop looking at me like that"

"What?" he asked again

I snapped and grabbed him by his jacket bringing his face inches from mine, "Stop looking at me as if you know me, stop looking at me like you think I'm a good person I'm not and you can't change that" I shoved him back

He winced, I was pretty sure I had irritated his wound. "You're not the best person Pope; we both know that, but your still here"

"Second Mass is the best chance I have of killing cooties"

Now it was his turn to grab me, his hands cupped my face and I could feel heat radiating off of him, "Don't give me that crap, Weaver trusts you with a gun and your own transport, you did something to impress him"

"Yeah I killed a load of cooties"

"Shut up Pope"

He pulled me too him, my lips tingled as he kissed me, I shoved his jacket off and flipped him beneath me, the manoeuvre was made for double beds not army cots and we almost rolled off. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes looked black in the dim light. He had way too many clothes on. I yanked his belt off him and unzipped his jeans.

I squeezed him through his boxers and he let out a ragged moan. I knocked his hands away as he tried to push his jeans down and did it for him. I slipped my hand under his boxers and ran my thumb over the slit on his head. He hissed his back arching.

Carefully I pulled his t- shirt over his head. Sweat ran down his face when I finally got it off.

"Mason, are you alright?"

He nodded as his hands skimmed along the top of my thighs distracting my thoughts, he then ran them along my inner thigh, he stopped before he reached my balls and I felt my cock twitch.

"Don't tease"

So he didn't, he pulled my boxers down as far as my position on top of him would allow and stroked me. He reached his other hand under and gently rubbed my balls. Warmth spread in my stomach and my heart was beating double time. I went to reach for him but stopped.

"You're bleeding through your bandage Tom"

"I'm fine" He softly squeezed my balls to prove it and I almost let him carry on

"Fuck no, you need the doctor, between the blood leaking out of you and the blood going to your dick, you're probably going to pass out from the lack of blood going to your brain"

I slid off the cot ignoring my aching cock and pulled Tom's jeans up before opening the tent flap.

"Doctor, its Tom" I yelled

Some people looked round at me and I noticed a few scurry off hopefully to get the doctor. I looked back at Tom who had zipped his jeans and was trying to peel his bandage off. I waved my hand at him, "Hey, don't do that!"

"Need to see"

I rolled my eyes, "Morbid curiosity"

"Well I was a teacher" he joked

I was pushed aside as the doctor knelt next to Tom, she pushed his hands away from the wound, "Got a light in here, Pope?"

I set a lantern next to her and watched from the tent flap as she peeled the bandage off. Blood ran down Tom's stomach and into the waistband of his jeans. His stitches had torn open.

"Just what the hell caused this Pope?"

The doctors tone sounded accusatory.

"We were just talking Anne"

"With your fists?"

Tom looked ready to say something but I shook my head at him from behind her shoulder.

"Pope make yourself useful and shine the lantern on his wound"

To Tom she said, "I'm going to have to stitch you back up, it's going to hurt a lot okay?"

He nodded and threw an arm over his eyes.

I complied but I didn't look as she stitched him up I could tell from Tom's rapid breathing that it hurt like hell. When she was finished, I helped him up which earned me an odd look but the Doctor didn't say anything.

"Can you walk?" she asked

Tom nodded.

"I'm taking you to the med bus, no arguments and you're not moving for the rest of the night"

Ignoring Toms protests to the Doctor, I picked up his t shirt and jacket and handed it to him. He gave me a nod of thanks. I left his belt under the bed; I didn't have a clue how to explain that to the Doctor.

As they walked away from my tent I could hear the Doctor berating Tom, "Just what the hell were you doing in his tent, anyway?"

I smiled to myself.


	3. Chapter 3

"I think it's a really bad idea"

"Why?" Pope spat, "Because you didn't think of it first?"

"Jesus, how old are you Pope five?" I poked him in the chest, "It's a bad idea because it's my son were talking about"

Pope lips curled in a snarl, "He'll be fine, you've seen what he can do now and it's scary shit but its scary shit that we can use"

"He's not invincible!" I poked him again, not concentrating on Popes face when I did

"He's just a teenager" I poked him again

"And he-"

"Don't poke me again Tom, I don't want to have to break your fingers especially when I know how talented they are"

Heat flooded my face and I dropped the offending digit. Thankfully, there was no one else around to see my embarrassment. Pope and I stood in a clearing about half a mile away from camp, Pope had dragged me here to talk about his asinine plan.

Pope thought it would be a good idea for Ben, my middle child who had been harnessed, to go after a skitter who is apparently leading an alien revolution. The fact that Pope believed there was an alien revolution was ludicrous, he believed only one thing about skitters and that was that they should all be killed.

Popes mocking tone woke me from my thoughts, "Are you blushing Tom?" he smirked, "I was only talking about your trigger pulling skills"

"Bastard"

He just smiled. We were standing inches apart, in the heat of our argument we had both unconsciously leaned towards each other. I felt his breath on my mouth as he spoke.

"Your letting your emotions rule you, you know it's a good plan"

It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. I hated the effect he had on me but I also loved it.

"Maybe I am, but what do you expect this is my son were talking about"

He nodded his eyes darted to my lips, "Yes, your son who can run for miles without breaking a sweat, who can see things from incredible distances and who can jump off buildings"

"I hate what they've done to him"

Popes expression softened, "I know"

He didn't say anything about how Ben's abilities had now made him a lot safer, he knew I wasn't stupid and had come to the conclusion myself. Pope was a lot of things ruthless, hard which were all part of him being a self preservationist but he definitely wasn't stupid either. I knew he had thought out this plan and if it weren't my son who had to carry it out it would be fantastic.

I leant my head against Popes shoulder; he stiffened at the gentle touch but didn't shove me off him. I'd made my decision and now I was going to have to live with it. He patted me hesitantly on the shoulder; unsure of this new tender development. Pope and I, whenever we were together it was always an angry snarl of emotions, our touches left bruises and our kisses were brutal.

I smiled against his shoulder as I thought of our last 'almost time' together, we had been in his tent going at each other until my stitches had ripped open. He had stayed away from me until today, which had been almost three weeks ago. I didn't know if it was because he didn't want to re open my stitches again, which would imply that he cared or if it was because we had almost been caught by Anna.

I pulled away and smiled resignedly.

"What is it?" he asked

"I'll do it, Ben can go after the skitter"

Triumph flashed in his eyes and I saw a spark of guilt follow it. I almost smiled; Pope wasn't as tough as he tried to make out. I squeezed his shoulder to let him know it was alright. He stepped forwards and kissed me.

It was a deep kiss but it was slow unlike the others we had shared. The others had been fast like we both wanted to get it out of the way and yet we would keep coming back for more. This was different and Pope had instigated it. I returned the kiss and stroked the skin on his hipbones as I braced my hands against him. His thumbs stroked my jaw and I felt liquid warmth rush through me from that gentle touch.

The air was sudden and sharp as he quickly pulled away. I didn't open my eyes. I knew he wanted to leave the clearing and go back to camp because he had sensed something was different.

"Don't go" my voice was quiet but came out even

"I… I can't do this Mason"

He had reverted back to calling me Mason; he was trying to distance himself from me.

"You started it," I opened my eyes, "Finish what you started"

He glared at me. He knew I was goading him and it was working. I could have made it easy for him and kissed him the way he had just kissed me but he needed to do it.

Pope let out a long breath and rolled his shoulders. I almost laughed he looked like he was about to go into battle not kiss me. Stepping forwards he pecked me on the lips.

"Again, but with a bit more feeling" I goaded

"I'll give you feeling in a minute" he threatened

The next kiss was demanding; it was tempered with anger like all of our previous kisses but it wasn't rough. He didn't bite my lip till he drew blood like he had done once. His tongue moved with mine instead of trying to battle it.

Lips travelled over my neck and I moaned when he licked my pulse point. It was the moan that was his undoing. Before I knew it he hooked his leg and swept me to the floor. My breath left me in a pained gasp, Pope straddled my hips and this time when he kissed me he bit me. My hips bucked upwards as he did.

I wanted more than angry fucking but my traitorous body didn't care. Pope knew it. He leant down and whispered in my ear, "You like it like this just as much as I do, so why are you fighting it?"

He pinned my wrists and ground himself against me. I fought the urge to grind myself against him but he didn't care he was already pulling my top over my head. He pinched my nipple viciously; the pain and pleasure of it buzzed through me. I sat up before he could push me down and curled my fingers in his hair as I kissed him. His mouth was hot on mine and I wanted to push us both over the edge but I kissed him softly. His hands were on the waistline of my jeans but he didn't move.

I pulled his top over his head and kissed his shoulder as I rolled him under me. Pope didn't stop me, he watched as I kissed down his body his breathing ragged. Normally our clothes would already be gone and I wouldn't even be able to remember how. Now I took it slow, I tugged his jeans and boxers down past his knees and pulled his boots off so he could kick his clothes off. Looking him in the eye I kissed the tip of his penis, fascinated I watched his pupils widen as I licked down the length of him before taking him in my mouth.

He let me set the pace and I made it a slow, torturous haul. I ran my tongue along the vein that ran up his penis before rolling my tongue around the head. Gently I cupped his balls and I felt him shiver against me. His hips bucked and I knew he was close, his cock pulsed in my mouth and I swallowed.

Gradually his breathing returned to normal and he pulled his clothes closer to him. It was a while before he spoke, "I don't know if I can return the favour"

"We've done this plenty of times before"

He looked me in the eye, "Not like that"

I nodded, "It's your decision", and I pulled my top back on and stood

"What are you doing?" Pope asked still lying on the ground

"Going back to camp and giving you time to think"

As I turned I heard an exasperated sigh, "Always the god damn good guy"


End file.
